


Anankos's Successor

by TheTacticianAlchemist



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 05:42:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7672324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTacticianAlchemist/pseuds/TheTacticianAlchemist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The newly-appointed Queen of Valla fears for her sanity.</p><p>[Azurrin Week Day Four: Role Reversal prompt]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anankos's Successor

Loneliness.

Azura is hardly a stranger to the emotion. Even the times during her childhood when she was happiest--when her mother was still alive--she was rarely taken out of her quarters. She almost never spoke to her Nohrian step-siblings. Then she was captive in a foreign country, never belonging to any place.

She doesn’t even belong to the place of her birth.

Azura closes her eyes and grips tightly to her Blessed Lance. Her golden eyes close, and tears slide down her cheeks. They are not the first, and certainly not the last.

_ “Sing with me a song _

_ “Of silence and blood…” _

She feels eyes on her, and knows that Kaze has turned his gaze to her. Ever the watchful ninja. He is perhaps her strongest pillar, despite the break in him after the battle against Anankos.

_ “The rain falls, but can’t wash away the mud… _ ”

Jakob is perhaps the worst off. He has no purpose, other than to serve her--and only then it is out of his undying loyalty to Corrin. He is lethargic most days, with only occasional bursts of energy to do his duties. She can hardly believe that Felicia--in tandem with Flora and Lilth--perform the majority of duties at Castle Valla. The only man missing is Gunter, gone since the aftermath of the battle.

_ “Within my ancient heart dwells _

_ “Madness and pride…” _

Not for the first time, she wonders if the aching emptiness in her chest is akin to what Anankos felt when he was alive. Madness and pride, originating from the mistrust and betrayal and abandonment on the part of mankind--not that Anankos was not to blame for a number of injustices, but all the same, Azura muses on just what kind of loneliness and how much of it is enough to drive one to insanity and conceit.

_ “Can no one…”  _ Here, her voice warbles, trembles. She thinks of a bird, singing in a cage, with a master to care for it but unable to understand why it falls silent.

Her mouth closes, and she covers her lips with one hand. Tears run freely from her eyes. Her mind runs wild with thoughts of her husband, Omega Yato in one hand and dragonstone in the other--

_ I miss him _ , she wants to scream.  _ I want him back. I don’t want to rule. I don’t want to rule alone. I’ll go mad. _

_ Corrin,  _ she begs.  _ Please, somehow…  _

“Milady?”

She looks up and sees that Kaze has come beside her, his gaze soft with concern and grief. She lost her husband once, and he lost his lord twice.

But Kaze is no king, will never be a king. She will never take another man, not when Shigure’s ears reveal the slightest point and the growing bump in her stomach suggests another child. Kaze may understand what it feels like to be lonely and filled with grief, but he at least still has a wife, and will never be burdened with the task of leading a country.

Valla will not have another king. Not until Shigure succeeds the throne.

“Milady,” Kaze says again, softly. “Do you need rest?”

“I am resting,” she whispers, voice hoarse. “I have another meeting this afternoon.”

“Perhaps you should cancel it.”

“No, I can’t.” She wants to. She wants to curl in her bed forever, Shigure in her arms and her unborn child in her womb, with the delusion that Corrin is there with them. “It’s about more trade agreements with Nestra.”

“Surely your advisor could handle it.” She did have a trusted one, a man who had been in service to her parents over twenty years ago. “Your health is what’s important right now, especially considering your child.”

Azura rests her hand on her stomach. She closes her eyes. “I should be there.”

“Milady…”

“I need to ensure Valla’s safety and security,” she says, rising to her feet. She takes a breath, and for once, she doesn’t feel as hollow, the thought of little unborn Kana and her little Shigure giving her a strength she didn't know she had. “For the good of my family, and my people…. I cannot falter. I will not.”

They share a look, Azura keeping her chin high despite the pity and sadness that wells in Kaze’s gaze. 

“You should also find time to rest, or you could grow sick,” he says. “Family and people cannot lean on an ill queen.”

Her breath leaves her for a moment, making her feel smaller--but not insecure. “I will find the time whenever possible, Kaze. I promise you that.”

He nods. “I suppose that is all I can ask of you.”

She turns and walks down the stairs, but stops short of the end. She turns back to Kaze and gives him the slightest of smiles. He returns it.

She may be lonely, but at least she is not alone.  And maybe that will keep her sane.

**Author's Note:**

> corrin dies / azura lives, there's the role reversal for you
> 
> should go without saying but the kaze /azura stuff here is 100% platonic


End file.
